British official warns of Kremlin’s ‘dirty bomb’ pretext

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace warned his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, against escalation of Moscow’s war against Ukraine after Shoigu phoned him and two other defense ministers of NATO countries on Sunday to claim that Ukraine was planning to detonate a “dirty bomb” with Western help.

The British Defense Ministry tweeted that Wallace “refuted these claims and cautioned that such allegations should not be used as a pretext for greater escalation.” It said Wallace also reiterated Western support for Ukraine and a desire to de-escalate the conflict.

Analysts have also warned in recent days that Russia could blow up a Ukrainian hydroelectric dam at Nova Kakhovka, which would flood the Russian-occupied city of Kherson and surrounding territory. Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of targeting the dam, which Russia controls.

Kremlin-backed authorities are also stepping up efforts to relocate civilians from Kherson to Crimea and other occupied regions, in what Ukrainian officials have called an attempt by Moscow to “depopulate” areas of Ukraine that Kyiv is poised to recapture.

In Russia, an Su-30 warplane crashed into a residential building – the second incident of its kind in a week. Two pilots were killed in the crash in Irkutsk, Siberia, authorities said.

In the call Sunday, Shoigu warned of a possible uncontrolled escalation in the war against Ukraine, and he claimed that Ukraine was preparing a bomb designed to release radioactive material. He spoke to Wallace, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu on Sunday. In a separate call, the Russian Defense Ministry said, Shoigu talked to U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, two days after they had discussed Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry provided little detail about the calls with Austin. Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in 1994 in return for a Russian guarantee that it would never attack Ukraine. Russia has aired similar claims that Ukraine was planning attacks using dirty bombs or bioweapons.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said Shoigu’s comments were “as absurd as they are dangerous.” “Firstly, Ukraine is a committed NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) member: we neither have any ‘dirty bombs’, nor plan to acquire any,” Kuleba tweeted. Dara Massicot, a senior policy analyst who studies the Kremlin’s military at Rand Corp., said on Twitter that Shoigu’s call “reads like Russian false flag groundwork.”

“Troubling that it’s happening at the defense minister level,” she said.

Two pilots died in the plane crash in Irkutsk, Russia’s emergencies ministry said in a statement, adding that the crash occurred during a test flight. No residents were killed, regional governor Igor Kobzev said. He declared a state of emergency in the district, according to his Telegram channel. On Monday, a Russian Su-34 crashed into a nine-story residential building in Yeysk, opposite the port city of Mariupol, killing at least 15 people.

Occupying Russian authorities ordered residents to leave Kherson and urged them to take “documents, money, valuables and clothes” with them. Photos showed people boarding ferries and buses in Kherson, pets and luggage in tow. Officials are promising government payments of 100,000 rubles (about $1,600) and housing certificates to purchase an apartment for those who comply. Ukrainian officials called Russia’s order illegal.

Russian authorities are reducing the volume of water in the reservoir behind the Nova Kakhovka dam to minimize damage if it is destroyed, a Russian-installed regional official said, per Russian news reports. Vladimir Leontyev also claimed that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that would seek to destroy it. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of laying explosive mines at the dam in an effort to create “a large-scale disaster” in an area it is on the verge of losing control over. The Washington Post could not verify the claims. If the dam were damaged, it could flood the banks of the Dnieper River and compromise the water supply in Crimea.

Russia is preparing to defend parts of Donbas it invaded from any Ukrainian counteroffensive, Britain’s Defense Ministry said. The ministry cited the head of the Wagner Group, a network of mercenaries working with Russian forces in Ukraine, who claimed to be building trenches and antitank defenses in Luhansk. This effort, the ministry said, suggests that “Russia is making a significant effort to prepare defenses in depth behind the current front line, likely to deter any rapid Ukrainian counter offensives.”

Russian forces struck Mykolaiv overnight with S-300 surface-to-air missiles, Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said. Two residential buildings, a central heating line and a children’s playground were damaged, and one man was injured, though not severely, Senkevych added.

The situation around Luhansk’s border remains “tense,” regional governor Serhiy Haidai said Sunday morning. During the previous day, Russian forces shelled border towns north of Luhansk city, while Ukrainian forces targeted Russian military equipment, Haidai said.

The Ukrainian military claimed that Russia has moved its officers across the Dnieper River, leaving recruits behind on the western bank to fend off a possible Ukrainian counteroffensive. “Using such inexperienced forces to conduct a delaying action could prompt a Russian rout if Ukrainian forces choose to press the attack,” the Institute for the Study of War said.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) criticized Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, for his recent signals that the GOP probably will oppose additional aid to Ukraine if it wins the House majority. In a Sunday “Meet the Press” appearance, she said, “The notion that now Kevin McCarthy is going to make himself the leader of the pro-Putin wing of my party is just a stunning thing.” Cheney, whose criticism of the GOP contributed to her loss in the primary for her seat this year, also accused him of acting out of political self-interest.

India launched a rocket carrying 36 internet satellites into space as part of a global project led by space connectivity firm OneWeb, the company and Indian officials said. The project was disrupted when OneWeb cut ties with Russia’s space agency Roscosmos in March after refusing to comply with demands that the company guarantee the satellites wouldn’t be used for military purposes. All of OneWeb’s previous satellite launches used Russian rockets, the Associated Press reported.

Iran criticized European calls for a U.N. probe into Iranian-made drones that the organization says are being used by Russia in Ukraine. Tehran on Saturday denounced the accusations, calling them “false and baseless,” as France, Germany and Britain urged an investigation. Britain last week imposed sanctions on Iran, while the Canadian government condemned Iran’s “active support of Russian atrocities.” Moscow denies that it is using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones.